“It’s Olivia.” The icy tone in Ryker’s voice changed everything in a split second.
20
“What is it?” Skye shot up and looked at Trent the second she felt his body go rigid. He moved to put the phone on speaker.
“Ryker, you’re on speaker with Skye and me. What happened to Olivia?”
Skye felt as if an icicle had replaced her spine as she shivered with dread.
“She was attacked. She’s not conscious yet. Surveillance shows she thought she was getting in her usual town car and she ended up severely beaten in an alley about fifteen blocks away. The police found my business card in her purse. The town car was still there. It had been stolen from the company under contract to provide rides to the firm. They took her phone and computer. But she was smart. She called 911 and the police were able to get to her within a couple of minutes.”
“Is she going to make it?” Skye’s voice trembled as ice shot through her veins.
The short time it took to hear Ryker’s voice seemed like an eternity. “Yes. She has broken ribs, a concussion, and a broken nose. She’ll make it, though.”
“Why did this happen to her? What can I do?” Skye felt so helpless and she didn’t like it. She feared she already knew the answer to why this happened to Olivia. It happened because of her. “It’s because of the court date for my contract in two days, isn’t it?”
“We don’t know,” Ryker answered honestly. “The doctor is signaling me. I’ll text with updates.”
The line went dead and the tears that had been threatening froze as cold determination took hold of her. “This is because of me and I’m going to fix it.”
“No. You’re going to stay hidden here where you’re safe,” Trent ordered as he reached for her. His body was warm as he held her against him, but Skye wasn’t thawing in her resolve.
Skye pulled out her phone and dialed. “I have to warn Morgan.” The phone rang and then went to voicemail. Skye looked up at Trent, her eyes wide with worry.
“I’ll call Miles,” Trent said and Skye knew in that second he too knew this was all because of her.
“Are you sure you don’t need me to stay, Morgan?”
Morgan Davies looked up from her desk in Lexington, Kentucky, and smiled at her assistant. It was dinnertime and her assistant had a young family to get home to. “No, go on home. Thank you. I’m just working on these press releases until Miles gets here.”
“It’s so cute you two still commute to Lexington together. I hope Robby and I are still so in love when we’ve been married thirty-plus years.”
“You will be,” Morgan said with a smile. She heard her assistant leave before looking back down at the three Skye Jessamine press releases she’d been working on. One was to be used if Olivia was victorious in court in two days, one if she lost, and a third if the judge didn’t rule immediately.
The door to her lobby opened again and Morgan called out, “I’m in my office.”
She and Miles were planning on a romantic dinner out in downtown Lexington tonight. Her husband was a nervous wreck over the fact their only child, Layne, was pregnant. It didn’t matter that the pregnancy was trouble-free and both baby and Layne were completely healthy. Morgan’s rough and tough former Special Forces husband was a mess. He was reading so many pregnancy and baby books that he was seeing danger at every turn and she needed to distract him for the night.
A shadow covered her desk and Morgan looked up with anticipation at her husband. Her smile slid from her face, though, as she saw not her husband but a man in a ski mask with a knife in hand standing there.
“Bless your heart. You picked the wrong place to rob.” Morgan stood slowly as she palmed the fountain pen Miles had given her for Christmas many years ago. She slowly pushed the cap loose and waited to see what his next move was. She knew that all he saw was a woman in her sixties alone in her office. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
“Where’s Skye Jessamine?” the low, gravelly voice asked as he leaned forward threateningly.
“Oh, now this is interesting,” Morgan said, widening her stance and rocking up onto the balls of her feet. She was ready to make her move at any second. “Why do you